'Entire' Vs. 'Whole'?

[Geoff Hart]

Dilraj Suri wondered: <<Could anyone please suggest, which one of the 
following is correct and why? 1. I can't see the entire 
<product_name_acronym> screen. 2. I can't see the whole 
<product_name_acronym> screen.>>

Not much difference; "whole" and "entire" are for all practical 
purposes identical. Although consistency is a good thing (i.e., choose 
one and use it everywhere), occasionally switching between the two 
won't cause much difficulty to any reader. This follows the general 
principle that consistency is less important for minor function words 
such as these than for technical terms.

Speaking of technical terms, it's worthwhile distinguishing between 
screens, windows, and dialog boxes. Which are you referring to here? 
The screen is everything between the monitor bezels; a window is any 
bounded and resizeable object within that screen; a dialog box is a 
non-resizable object that requires a response from the user (i.e., a 
dialog with the software).

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Geoff Hart   ghart at videotron.ca
(try geoffhart at mac.com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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